In Russia were more likely to put in jail

In 2015, the investigating authorities were more likely to use the courts with petitions for arrests, and judges to issue sanctions for arrest, and last year the courts received 154 thousand requests for the arrests — 4.5% more than the year before (147,4 thousand), follows from the statistics of the Judicial Department at the Supreme court.

Like last year, the courts granted more than 90% of such applications. Increased by 10% and the number of petitions for extension of arrests (230 thousand). Almost all of these, 98% were satisfied by the courts.

The annual number of arrests has decreased since 2002, after the courts began to address the issues on election of a measure of restraint. Before that arrest warrant was issued by prosecutors. According to the President of the Supreme court Vyacheslav Lebedev, in 2001 the number of prisoners amounted to 366 thousand people.

By 2007 the number of people arrested fell to 223 thousand people, and in 2011 was 135 thousand. But in 2015 the number of prisoners began to grow again.

“Then for the courts it was a novelty, and they came to this procedure with responsibility. But online services have begun to suspect corruption in those cases, when courts failure. So now the marshals come to arrest from a formal point of view”, — the lawyer Vladimir Zherebenkov. He notes that over the last ten years of his practice, the courts not only arrested two of his principals.

Alternative measures — house arrest and bail is still the most irrelevant, and last year they elected only for 3.5% of the accused. But house arrest is increasing gradually, in 2015 he was selected for 4.7 thousand persons, or 42% more than in 2014. The use of collateral, on the contrary, decreased by 15%, last year he was appointed only 190 defendants.

“The situation has changed, the Supreme court needs to clarify to the judges that bail and house arrest shall be applied in equal shares from the number of arrests,” — said the lawyer Alexei Mikhalchik.

Million theft

The head of the “Committee for the prevention of torture” and a member of the Council on human rights under the President Igor Kalyapin believes that the increase in arrests is directly related to the increase in crime.

“Investigators as before, be on the safe side and ask the courts about the arrests, but the crimes have become more and insulators is not enough,” says human rights activist.

About the growth of crime in 2015 by 9% for 2015 in January and stated the Prosecutor General Yuri Chaika. Moreover, the rise in crime is mainly due to the thefts — one of the most massive crimes. Last year was still 11% higher and amounted to almost a million 996 thousand, follows from statistics of the Ministry of interior.

Now criminal liability for theft theft begins from 1 thousand roubles. For theft of property less cost, the law provides only administrative responsibility.

In December 2015 in the state Duma a bill was introduced to the President of the Supreme court Vyacheslav Lebedev, who has considered a criminal offence only theft from 5 thousand rubles. In February, he was adopted in the first reading.

The amount of 1 thousand rubles is too small to send people to the colony and should be increased in line with modern realities, says lawyer Yuri Elmaset.

A dispute over a bed

Now in detention centers hold 120,8 thousand people (data of the Federal penitentiary service as of 1 March). In the past year, the number of prisoners varied between 114 to 116 thousand people.

But many detention facilities are overcrowded, says Kalyapin. “A couple of years ago in insulators, where I am, there were empty seats, and now there appeared the second and third tiers of bunks, the inmates begin to sleep in two shifts, says Kalyapin. — We return to the situation that was in the insulators in the 90-ies”.

Even in the female facilities do not have enough beds, says lawyer Alexei Mikhalchik.

“Women’s prison in Pechatniki has long been one of the most comfortable and uncluttered, but even there now have to sleep in shifts. And insulators No. 2,3 and 4 in Moscow started reloading a year ago, the situation is much worse,” said Mihalchik.

As follows from open data, detention center “Printers” is designed for 800 detainees, detention facility № 4 “the Bear” — over 2 thousand.

The increase in the number of prisoners leads to the violation of sanitary norms and conflicts between inmates, which in turn begin to create a criminal gang are already inside detention facilities, says Kalyapin.

The problem with the conditions of detention in Russian jail has repeatedly pointed out, the European court of human rights and even took out the pilot judgment adopted in 2012 in the case of “Ananiev and others.” The ECtHR acknowledged that the applicant Sergey Ananiev was detained in inhuman conditions and has obliged the Russian side to resolve the violations in detention facilities in General.

In the spring of 2015, the Ministry of justice reported that this requirement is in the stage of execution, and now work on the strategy for bringing the insulators in accordance with international standards.